It's a Match!
by unknown-wonder
Summary: AU Everyone knows her as the Matchmaking Queen. Guys approach her for her matchmaking skills, not because they have genuine interest in her. But when a certain redhead makes fun of her, everything goes upside down. Will she ever find her perfect match? KB
1. Match Number 1

**Author's Note: **Here's a short story offering for the holiday season! While searching for new _mangas_ to read, I stumbled upon _**Ai No Tame Ni **_by_**Kazune Kawahara**_, the same _manga_ artist who brought us _Koukou Debut _(one of my favorite _mangas_, by the way). It contains a series of one shots, and the first story,**Everything for the Sake of Love**, really perked my interest. After reading it, I just saw Botan and Kurama in the place of the lead characters. Inspired, I immediately rushed to the nearest computer and typed away! And here it is, a new KB fic.

So the general idea of this fic comes from that _manga_, but I did some tweaking and added some scenes. I also stuck with Fukuyama as Botan's last name, from my other fic, The Ghost of You.

What else?

Okay, better stop babbling now and let you read the fic.

PS

If you don't understand some of the terms, there is a Definition of Terms at the end of the page.

Standard Disclaimer Applies here!

* * *

**Match Number 1**

Botan woke up with the beeping sound of her alarm clock. The cold weather brought about by the coming holiday season did not, in any way, make it easy for her to brush away the lingering drowsiness. In times like these, all you would want to do is curl up in the bed and sleep more. The fact that her muscles were aching from exhaustion and her throat was sore from singing too much during last night's _goukon_didn't help much either.

As the blaring sound intensified, the blue-haired girl finally decided to get up, though unwilling, and prepare for school, "Yeah, yeah. I'm awake." She blindly reached for the source of such noise and turned it off. As if on cue, as soon as the beeping sound went off, the ringing sound of her cell phone invaded her senses. Apparently, this was the only sound that seemed to wake her up entirely.

She dug for her phone that was trapped under the voluminous sheets. Finally, she felt for its smooth surface and then took one look at the small monitor to find out that Keiko Yukimura was the caller. Flipping the phone open, she placed it by her ear and greeted, "Keiko-chan! Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too!" Keiko greeted and then continued, "Botan-chan, thank you so much for setting up that wonderful _goukon_last night! I just want you to know that after last night, I and Yuusuke Urameshi from Class-D hooked up!"

"Oh, that's great! I knew it from the beginning that you guys were meant for each other!" Botan giggled uncontrollably, unable to control the exhilaration of creating another perfect match.

"I know! And it's all thanks to you," Keiko meant to say more but her mother's voice was urging her to hang-up now and prepare for school. Keiko just sighed in defeat, "Hey, Botan-chan, I need to go for now. Mom's orders. See you later at school!"

"Right, Keiko-chan! I want the juicy details later!" Botan said on the other line in a cheerful voice, "See you!" With those final words, both girls hung up. Before Botan went out of bed, she grabbed that little green notebook on her bedside table and scribbled something in it.

"Success! Another perfect match," Botan exclaimed, all the drowsiness she felt earlier gone.

And that's how you energize Botan Fukuyama, the Matchmaking Queen.

* * *

Botan rushed down the stairs, cheerful and bouncy. She entered the kitchen to see her brother preparing breakfast for both of them.

"Good mornig, onii-chan!" Botan greeted as she sat down the chair, ready to eat. Ryo Fukuyama, her brother, walked towards the opposite chair and laid down a plate of freshly cooked bacons. "Good morning to you to," he served her three bacon strips and scrambled eggs while his dutiful sister poured orange juice on two glasses, one for her and the other for her brother.

As they started eating, Ryo couldn't help but notice Botan's cheery aura and simply smiled. "My, you seem more cheerful today than your usual self," he commented before devouring a spoonful of scrambled eggs.

Botan nodded furiously, chewing her food before swallowing. "Uh-huh, I just received a call earlier today. And guess what," Botan paused, sipping her juice before continuing, "I made another match! That's the 287th match since entering high school."

"And who's the lucky couple this time?"

"You wouldn't believe it! Keiko-chan finally hooked up with someone! I always told her that she needed to relax a bit, get away from books for a while – that she needed to enjoy high school life and get herself a guy."

"And who did you pair her up with?"

"Yuusuke Urameshi. He has a crush on her for the longest time, and Kami-sama knows the things he did just to get her attention. I'm so glad they can both be happy now."

Ryo simply smiled as Botan wolfed down her breakfast. Seeing his sister happy was enough for him. When their parents died when they were younger, he thought Botan would detach herself from people and blame the whole world for taking their parents away so early. But instead, she turned out to be a very cheerful and positive person who is bent on making all those around her happy and alive. Her capacity to love is extraordinary given the awful things that had happened to them.

"What? Is that the time?" Botan gasped as she stared at her watch, "And I promised Keiko-chan to be early today." Wiping her mouth with a napkin, she stood up and scurried towards her brother. She kissed him in the cheek and said her goodbyes.

"Don't forget your _obento_!" he called out before Botan could leave the kitchen.

"Thanks, onii-chan!" he heard her call out as she walked towards the door, "I'll be sure to make you a delicious dinner later, so be good at work!"

With that, Ryo heard the front door close and then silence ensued.

* * *

"Botan-chan!"

The said blue-haired girl turned to the person who had just called her.

"Suki-chan, how are you today?" Botan replied, lively as ever.

"I just want to thank you for introducing Kawari-kun. We celebrated our four months of blissful relationship yesterday. We had a wonderful time!"

"Wow, congratulations!"

"Botan-chan!" another one called out, "Do you have Suzuki-chan's number? I had so much fun with her during the last _goukon_ that I forgot to ask for her number. So stupid of me, I know."

"Yeah, Tama-kun, here's her number," she said as she flipped her phone to show him the sought after contact details, "You better call her fast, she's been complaining to me because you didn't call her."

"Sure will!" he said as he walked off, "Thanks a bunch, Botan-chan!"

"No problem!" she called out.

As soon as Botan entered into the hallowed halls of Saryashiki High School, she was greeted by friends and acquaintances, either thanking her for setting them up with a perfect person or asking her to hook them up with someone. And because of the high success rate of her matchmaking, she was dubbed as the Matchmaking Queen. Her reputation even reaches the nearby districts.

However, even if she did gain tons of friends, both male and female, by being the Matchmaking Queen, no guy ever approached her to ask her to be his girlfriend. None of the guys was interested in her; they just sought her for her matchmaking skills.

"Hey, Botan-chan, I'm so glad I caught you before school starts," a young man approached her with a number of other boys in tow, "Yamada-kun here had just broken up with his girlfriend. Can you introduce him to someone?"

"Leave it to me," she said with a smile as she grabbed that little green notebook from her bag, "So what's your type?"

"Um, I prefer girls who are beautiful, have a great body, and have an outgoing personality, the kind who won't bore me easily," he said, Botan just scribbled in her notebook as he talked, "Oh, and being intelligent would be a plus!"

_'Basically the perfect woman, why am I not surprised,' _Botan thought.

"Okay, let's see what I can do," she said as she flipped through the other pages of her notebook, "Aha! Here you go. Asuka-chan would be perfect. She's one year our junior, studies in an all-girls school, member of the softball team, and one of the top 20 performers in her class. I'll give her a call later to ask when she'd be free for a date. I'll be updating you soon."

"Sure, that would be great!" Yamada said enthusiastically, "Here's my number, just contact me okay? Thank you very much, Botan-chan! You really are the Matchmaking Queen!"

* * *

On the other side of Saryashiki High School grounds, under the shade of a sakura tree next to the sports field to be exact, one high school boy bawled in an exaggerated manner as his friends tried to ignore him.

"Are you even listening to me?" Kazuma Kuwabara yelled out of frustration, "I said I need a girlfriend! Now that Urameshi finally had the guts to ask Keiko-san out, it's like losing to him on the heart department. And you do know I intend to beat him in_everything_!"

"Do I really need to listen to this?" Hiei Jaganshi asked, obviously annoyed, "I don't hate being the one to tell you this, but with that face of yours, you're bound to scare any woman within a ten feet radius."

"Hey, look who's talking, midget?!" Kuwabara spat, "No one asked you." At this, Kuwabara continued throwing tantrums.

Hiei stood up from his sitting position on the ground, brushed off the minuscule dust on his black uniform and started to walk off, "He's just hopeless, I tried to tell him, but he just won't listen. Good luck handling the cry baby, Kurama. See you in class later."

"I don't even know why I attempt to put up with the guy," Shuuichi Minamino, who goes by the pseudo name Kurama, heard Hiei mutter to himself as he closed the door. He returned to the book in his hand and continued reading.

"Kurama, you gotta help me," Kurama begged as he crawled over to his friend, "You know, introduce me to one of your girl friends."

Kurama twitched at Kuwabara's last comment, "Excuse me, but I _do not _have a girlfriend and I do not intend creating a harem of girls.

"No, no, no," Kuwabara said, shaking his head furiously. Kurama was really scary when he gets mad. "Not _girlfriend_, I meant _girl friends_, you know, friends who are girls?" Kurama merely rolled his eyes, not intending on commenting.

"But everyday I see those pink scented thingies pouring out of your locker!" Kuwabara exclaimed, "I'm quite sure that those come from girls, so I guess they count as your friends."

"Kuwabara, don't assume too much," Kurama said, flipping another page of his book, "Some of those don't even come from females."

"Okay, that's just sick. You shouldn't have mentioned that. Now I think I feel my breakfast going up my throat."

Kurama simply let an amused laugh, _'That would get his mind off getting a girlfriend.'_

Apparently, Kuwabara was intent on the topic and continued begging, "Oh, please, Kurama! You gotta help me out; you're the only one who can."

"I'm not listening," Kurama taunted as he flipped another page.

"But you owe me!" Kuwabara said, desperate enough to resort to blackmail.

"I don't rememb –," before he could even finish his sentence, Kuwabara said, "Oh, yes you do! I helped your mother on an errand last week, remember? I could have gone on with my own thing, but no. Kind ol' Kuwabara jumped in and helped her."

Kurama thought for a minute, obviously not liking where this conversation was going. _'I should have gone with Hiei when he left,' _he thought. But this is the best reading spot in school, minus the noisy Kuwabara, that is.

"That's one dirty move, Kuwabara."

"Well, I gotta do what I gotta do," he said as he crossed his arms, "So, what do you say?"

Heaving a defeated sigh, he said, "Alright."

Hearing those words, Kuwabara literally jumped for joy and shouted to the sky, "Just you wait and see, Urameshi. Soon, I'll be having a girlfriend and I will definitely beat you!"

Kurama sighed again, _'I don't even know if having a girlfriend counts as a competition.' _His thoughts were interrupted with Kuwabara's giddy voice, "So, when are you going to introduce me to those females? Do you think they'll like me?"

Honestly, Kurama didn't want to answer the last question. Even with his charm and good looks, Kurama doubted he could convince any of those girls infatuated with him go out with Kuwabara. And then, an idea hit him.

"I have a better idea," Kurama said as he shut his book close, Kuwabara getting interested with the knowing tone of his friend's voice.

"Let's hear it."

"Why not pay a visit to Saryashiki High's Matchmaking Queen?" before Kuwabara could reply, the first period bell rang.

* * *

"Bye Botan-chan, see you tomorrow," Rika waved at her as she got out of the classroom to join her other friends.

"Bye, Rika-chan! Don't forget the _goukon_on the 10th," Botan reminded her friend.

"Yeah, I won't forget that! Thanks for the reminder," she replied as she walked out together with the rest of the girls.

Botan stood up from her chair, fixed her things and set off for home. Usually, Keiko walked with her home, but now that she has a boyfriend, it is only proper to have Yuusuke walk Keiko home.

As she walked out of the room, before she could take another turn, someone called out, "Fukuyama." In response, she turned to face the owner of the cool and calm voice.

"Huh?" she blinked as the image of two guys crossed her vision. One had red hair with bottle green eyes while the other, a little taller than the former, had orange hair and had a striking resemblance with a horse, not that she'd tell him that anyway.

"You're the Matchmaking Queen, correct?" the red-head man asked.

"Matchmaking Queen?" Botan thought for a minute, registering the question in her mind, "Oh yeah, that's me! Sorry, I'm still not used to people calling me that, silly me." She gave a sheepish smile as her free hand lightly bonked her head as if reprimanding her momentary stupidity.

Kurama felt something inside stir as soon as the blue-haired schoolmate turned around. She had been one of the very few women who did not go heart-eyed with just looking at him. He did not know if it was a good or a bad thing. And the way she laughed off her simple mistake was something he rarely saw for most women he met were vain and self-absorbed. Just seeing the oblivious look on her face as she waited for his response, made him want to laugh. And that he did, covering his mouth with the back of his hand as he tried to contain himself.

Kuwabara elbowed him, "Hey, I think you should stop that, it's kinda rude, ya' know."

_'What the? Is he laughing at me?' _Botan thought.

Clearing his throat, he continued the conversation as he pointed at Kuwabara with his thumb, "My friend here, Kuwabara, is in desperate need of a girlfriend."

"Hey, I'm not that desperate."

"Looks like you were when you begged me earlier to hook you up with some random girl," Kurama retorted before turning back to Botan, "Can you do something about that?"

Forgetting the initial reaction the red-head had towards her, her ears perked as soon as she heard the words 'girlfriend' and 'hook-up', "Sure, I could do that." In a flash, she took out that green little notebook of hers and started scribbling something.

"So, what is your ideal girl?" Botan immediately asked, ready to scribble away all information about Kuwabara's desired girlfriend.

Almost disgustingly, Kuwabara transformed into a sheepish love-sick guy with a blush starting to form on his cheeks. Kurama tried to inconspicuously inch away from him, obviously bothered by the change. "She has to be kind, sweet and gentle. Like the damsel-in-distress type, so I can protect her always," Kuwabara said with dreamy eyes, "She has to be cute, too."

"Hm, I think I know just the right person for you," Botan said, tapping the end of her pen to her lower lip.

"You do?" Kuwabara asked, excited about this great news, "That's great!"

"So, would you prefer having a one-on-one date or a group kind of thing?" she asked, the tip of her pen already on the notebook, ready to write.

"I think I would like a group date," Kuwabara said as he scratched his head, now reverting back to his shy side.

"Okay," with a dot, Botan grabbed her phone and punched in a few numbers, "Yuki-chan! How are you?" Botan walked off to a more private place.

When Botan was off into a distance, Kuwabara turned to his friend, "Kurama, this was a really great idea! I'm so glad you're the one I asked to help me."

_'More like blackmailed me to help you,' _Kurama thought.

Botan walked back to the pair with a beautiful smile on her face, "Good news, Kuwabara-kun! She agreed to meet with you. Is this upcoming Saturday okay with you?"

"Yeah, that would be great!"

"She'll be bringing three more girls with her, so I suggest you bring along at least four guys to go with you, is that okay?"

"Sure, that's okay."

"If you don't mind, can you give me your contact number so we could keep in touch?"

"Yeah, here it is," Kuwabara agreed and gave her his number.

"Okay then, see you on the 15th at the Greenwood Park Circle. The girls will be there by one in the afternoon. See you then!" with that, she started to walk off. But even before she could take another step, that cool voice had once again called out her attention.

"Fukuyama, you sure are bubbly," Kurama said.

"Yeah, people say that to me, too, most of the time."

"That's good. I guess it does suit your future career."

"What do you mean?"

"I can almost see it. Years from now, you'll most likely end up as a_Miu Pao_," Kurama said, with a sly smile on his face.

Botan stood there, shocked with his words. That really hit a nerve.

"Kurama, would you quit that?" Kuwabara nervously said as he grabbed Kurama by his uniform sleeve and then turned to leave, "Ah, we'll be leaving now, Botan-chan! Thanks again for everything."

"A-a_Miu Pao_?!" Botan whispered silently. Slowly, her face contorted into pure rage as veins started popping out of her head.

When she saw both men about to turn into the corner, she roared, "_MINAMINO SHUUICHI!_"

Obviously taken aback by her violent reaction, both friends looked back, "How'd you know my name? I'm quite sure I haven't met or even spoken to you before."

"Remembering names is my talent, but that's beside the point," she said as she marched to where both guys stopped.

When she was close enough, she glared at the read-head boy and said, "Who are you calling a _Miu Pao_?! Don't come crawling to me if you need help getting a girlfriend, you jerk! Even if you beg, I will most definitely not help you!"

Kurama merely chuckled at her childish display, "Don't worry, Miss _Miu Pao_, I'm sure I won't be needing your help anyway," he started walking off, Kuwabara giving him a nervous look, "Besides, you probably won't be able to find one for me." With that, he stopped and then turned back to Botan who was now shaking violently.

"I have high standards," he simply said with an almost arrogant grin. With that, he was gone.

Seconds later, the word _'jerk'_ was heard along the corridors of Saryashiki High School.

* * *

A/N: Whacha think? Boring? Interesting? Crappy? Or something worth reading? I really would like to know!

Personally, I think it is a breath of fresh air, away from the gloomy mood of my other fic, which by the way, I intend to finish. This fic won't probably as long as TGOY, just about three chapters or so.

Sorry if Kurama was a little bit out of character, but I was thinking, for the sake of this fic, he'll be acting more like his Youko side rather that his Shuuichi side. Okay, maybe a mix of those two personalities.

Also, for the sake of this fic, I had the gang study at one school, Saryashiki High School.

**Definition of Terms:**

_**Goukon**_– Japanese term for group date. (I guess most anime aficionados out there know this)

_**Obento**_– Lunch box

_**Miu Pao **_– (Definition from the manga) Chinese term for a middle-aged woman who match-makes people for a living.


	2. Match Number 2

**Author's Note**: Here's the second chapter, my Christmas gift to all my readers. It's longer than the first one, but I hope you won't get bored reading this one.

Again, the story is loosely based on the one-shot _manga_,** Ai No Tame Ni **by** Kawahara Kazune**.

Standard disclaimer applies here.

* * *

**Match Number 2!**

It was freezing when Kurama woke up that morning. Since the winter season had already started, it wasn't such a surprise to feel this kind of weather especially early in the morning. Kurama never did like the winter season. It makes him want to curl around in a corner and huddle himself with a huge comforter, makes him sleepy most of the time, and most of all, it turns his senses dull. Even with Christmas just around the corner, he didn't really feel festive since cold weather is always associated with it. If this keeps up, he'd be tempted to buy a new heating pad.

Even if every muscle in his body protested, he got out of bed and went straight to his closet to find thicker clothes. Finally finding one, he dressed up and headed down stairs. He found his mother cooking breakfast. She, unlike him, was not bothered by the cold as she prepared their breakfast happily. Kurama approached her and greeted her with quick peck on the cheek.

"Good morning to you, too," she said with a pretty smile on her face.

"Need any help with that?" he said pointing over to the cream of mushroom soup his mother was making.

"Oh, no, its okay dear, I'm almost finished anyway," Shiori said, turning back to the concoction she was preparing, "But you could set up the table for me and wake your brother afterwards."

He proceeded to a drawer and grabbed six place mats and four coasters. One by one, he placed them neatly on the table. He got the plates from another cabinet and utensils and chopsticks on another. As he continued setting the table, he asked his mother, "By the way, where is father? I haven't seen him this morning."

"He's at the basement, making some adjustments to the heater. We know you tend to get grumpy during this time of the year."

"Do you suppose he's okay down there? Do you want me to check up on him?"

"Go do that after you wake up the other Suuichi. He's been down there for quite sometime now. We wouldn't want him blowing up the house by mistake now, do we?"

When he finished setting up the table, he marched back up the stairs to wake up his younger step-brother. He practically had to drag him out of bed because he continued asking for a 5-minute worth of sleep time. When he got him down, Kurama proceeded to the basement to only to see his step-father struggling with the heater manual. Together, they figured out how to make it work.

With all of the family members present at the dining table, they ate contentedly as each one of them shared what their plans are for during that cold Saturday.

When it was Kurama's turn, he merely shrugged and said, "Might as well stay at home and read a good book."

* * *

Kurama had already finished two books by 11:00 that morning and was currently at the middle of finishing his third one. His step father was working in the office, his younger brother was at a friend's house probably playing, while his mother sat at a nearby couch, knitting. All in all, he felt contented and was at peace. 

That is until the ringing doorbell disturbed it all.

Not wanting to bother his mother, he got up from the couch to get the door. When he opened it, he was greeted by the sight of a fidgety Kuwabara who pacing back and forth on their outside porch.

"Oh, Kurama!" the freezing carrot-top exclaimed as his redhead friend opened the door, "I'm so glad you're home." Kuwabara entered his house even without the owner's invitation. It was cold outside and he was quite sure that Kurama wouldn't want to have a popsicle for a friend standing outside their house.

"What brings you here?" Kurama asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Remember that _goukon_ Botan-chan set up?"

"Yes, what about it? Don't tell me you're not attending it."

"No, no, no. I have no plans of skipping it. It's just that, how do I say this?" he paused not knowing how to put his thoughts into words, "Um, couldyoucometothegoukonthisafternoon?"

"What? Can you repeat that again for me, this time much slower?"

"C-could you come to the _g-goukon_this afternoon?"

"Hm, let me think," after a millisecond, he answered, "No."

"B-but you have to! The only guys I managed to drag into this were Tetsuo, Ginta, Shin and Kentaro!" Kuwabara cried.

"So that makes you five. And from what I remember, four is the minimum requirement. No need for me to immerse myself in such juvenile activities."

By now, Kuwabara was kneeling on the floor, clinging to Kurama's leg, "But I can't survive that date without you! I have a feeling that those guys will just make things difficult for me! I'd definitely loose my nerve out there! And besides, you could show me some moves to charm the girls."

"What moves? To tell you, I was born with this charm," Kurama said as he tried desperately pulling his leg from Kuwabara's death grip.

"But you're such a great friend and all! You wouldn't want your friend embarrassing himself in front of girls, do you?" Kuwabara pleaded, clutching Kurama's leg, which was already numb, tighter.

"It depends on the friend. Besides, you're already subjecting yourself in a _very _humiliating situation by kneeling on the floor, pleading."

"PUH-LEASE!" Kuwabara begged while donning puppy dog eyes.

"Argh, would you cut that out?" Kurama said, shutting his eyes close from the horrifying image of Kuwabara's lame attempt to be cute, "You're officially disgusting me."

Without any warning, another voice joined the conversation, "Is there something wrong out here? You've been gone for a while now, Shuuichi," Shiori said as she entered the room. She stifled a laugh when she saw Kuwabara's kneeling position while her son tried desperately to pry his leg from the former's clutch.

"Ohayou, Shiori-san," Kuwabara greeted as he stood up.

"Good morning to you, too, Kazuma-kun," she gave a slight bow as she greeted him, "What brings you here?"

"Oh, you see I have to attend this _goukon_ later this afternoon," he said, scratching the back of his head in utter nervousness, "And I was asking your son if he could go with me, you know, offer some support or something."

"A _goukon_? It's been a very long time since I've attended one," she said as she reminisced of her younger years, "Sure was fun. Shuuichi, I think you should attend this thing with Kazuma-kun. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! After all, you might finally get a girlfriend after this."

"Mother!" Kurama blushed at his mother's last words. Kuwabara just snickered silently beside him.

"I'll go and pick your clothes, better leave a good impression," Shiori said, about to leave when her son spoke.

"No, it's alright, mother. I'll do it myself, I wouldn't want disturbing you," he smiled to his mother before turning to Kuwabara, giving him a cold stare and whispered, "You owe me big time." Even if it was against his will, he would do anything that would make his mother happy. That's just who he was – his mother's happiness first before his own. Kurama sighed in defeat as he walked up to his room to prepare.

When Kurama was gone, Shiori gave Kuwabara a knowing wink and went back to the living room, continuing with her knitting.

* * *

"Botan-chan!" Botan turned to the direction where the voice came from. There, she saw her good friend, Yukina Jaganshi accompanied by three other girls she recognized. 

"Yuki-chan," Botan called back as she waved to the group. When they were close enough, Botan asked, "How was the trip here? Did you have a hard time finding this place?"

"It was okay. The girls and I agreed to meet at the bus station before going here," Yukina said with a kind smile.

"So where are the guys? I don't see them around," one of the girls asked as she scanned the place.

"Don't worry, Shimizu. They'll be here in a while. They are boys after all, do expect them to be late," Botan said. She scouted the area for any signs of Kuwabara, but unfortunately, there was none. Just then, she heard that familiar gruff voice call out her name.

"Kuwabara-kun, over here!" she waved. Botan saw five other guys Kuwabara had invited and she assumed that they were his classmates. She studied them and found that all of them were actually good looking. When her eyes landed the lone lad who was trailing behind the group, she immediately recognized that familiar red hair and green eyes that made her blood burn.

'_What is that jerk doing here?' _she thought, her blood pressure rising from the distant memory of him calling her a _miu pao_,_'The nerve of that guy showing his face here. Didn't he tell me that he didn't need me to introduce him to girls?'_

"Sorry, Botan-chan, for being late," Kuwabara said apologetically, carefully eying the girls behind Botan.

"That's okay, we didn't wait that long. We just arrived as well," With that, the introductions started. The girls first introduced themselves then they were followed by the boys. As the introductions took place, Botan eyed the redhead at the corner who seemed deathly bored.

She approached the young lad and whispered, "Hey, I thought you had no confidence in my matchmaking skills? Then what are you doing here? It seems like you need my expertise after all."

"Don't flatter yourself too much. Kuwabara practically begged me to come. And if it wasn't for my mother, I won't even consider going outside the house especially in this cold weather," Kurama said, giving Botan a smirk. She was about to say something in rebuttal when the rest of the group called her attention.

'_I shouldn't waste my precious brain cells thinking of that jerk right now. I'd rather concentrate on how to make this goukon successful. I'll deal with him later,' _with that final resolve, she laid down the activities of that afternoon's group date.

After watching a good romantic comedy movie, visiting the shopping district, and heading to the music store, the group decided to spend the rest of the day at a karaoke lounge. They rented a room large enough for the group and ordered some drinks and snacks as well. As they picked their seats, Botan ended up sitting beside Kurama who was still looking uninterested.

Kuwabara took the song list and picked a song he knew. To impress the ladies, especially the timid Yukina, he picked a song that boasted his voice. Some of the guys chatted with the girls as Kuwabara sang. After the excruciating minutes of having to listen to his voice, the girls cheered on Botan, urging her to sing the next song. She chose a lively song to lighten the mood. The rest of the group clapped and sang along during her performance.

After singing, she flopped on the couch as she tried to catch her breath. Suddenly, someone stroke a conversation with her, "That was good singing you did there a while ago. I didn't like that song before but after that performance, I have a newfound appreciation of that song."

"Really? That's one of my favorite songs that is why I really had fun singing it. I'm glad you liked it," Botan said with a wide smile on her face.

"I'm Shin Takehiro, by the way," he said extending his hand to her.

"From Class-D, right?" she was about to shake his hand when a firm grip surrounded her wrist. Before she knew it, Botan was pulled from her seat and was face to face with the ever-sly Kurama.

"Let's go some place else," he offered. Before she could protest, Botan was already being pulled to the exit.

"W-what the?" feeling that there was no use struggling with the larger man, she took a few bills from her bag and threw it to the nearest person, "H-here's my share of the bill." With that, they were gone, leaving the rest of the group befuddled by the Matchmaking Queen's sudden departure.

Once outside, Kurama led her away from the building. They ended up somewhere in the park. No longer able to contain the disappointed feelings inside her, Botan pulled her wrist away from Kurama's grip, "What the hell were you thinking? Why'd you do that?"

"No particular reason," Kurama shrugged, "After all, I really don't see myself in that kind of thing since I'm not looking for a girlfriend. If I weren't there, the rest of the guys would actually have a chance with the girls."

For some strange reason, Botan thought that he was right. During the whole _goukon_, all of the girls, with the exception of Yukina, were googly-eyed over Kurama, Botan was starting to feel hostility directed towards the red-head. But she wasn't about to agree with him and admit defeat.

"Then why didn't you just leave in peace? You actually had to drag me away with you!" Botan was now shouting, "You could have left by yourself!"

"That won't do, they'd think I'm rude and that wouldn't be good for my reputation," he said, resting his chin on his thumb.

"Why you insufferable man!" Botan cried, about ready to punch the arrogant man.

"What?" Kurama looked her way to see her red with anger, "Don't tell me you're disappointed."

"Disappointed is an understatement! Leaving like that in the middle of a _goukon_ makes me feel like a ditcher," Botan ranted as she paced back and forth to relieve herself from stress, "This is my first time doing that! What if none of them socialize when I'm not there? What if they just leave and think of it as a failure?" Botan was about to rant more when she heard stifled bouts of laughter that came from Kurama.

"You think this is funny, mister?" Botan was about to give him another round of verbal lashing when a breeze blew their way sending shivers to her spine. It was then that she realized she had left her jacket in the lounge. Instinctively, she bent her arms and wrapped herself in a tight embrace to suppress the lingering shiver.

Without warning, a mass of cloth, which strangely had the scent of roses in it, was thrown over her head. Taking it off her head, she found out it was Kurama's coat. When she looked his way, she saw him already walking away.

"What's this for?" she called out, brandishing the coat in the air.

"It's a coat. You wear it, Miu Pao," he answered back not even looking back.

Hearing that name again sent her nerves into haywire, but she managed to repress those feelings to have a decent conversation with the blasted guy, "I know what it is, you jerk. To tell you, I don't need your pity! I can pretty much handle myself and keep myself warm."

"Sure, convince yourself that and I might actually believe you."

"W-well, don't blame me if you die of pneumonia or something! And if you do, it would be off my conscience, got it?"

"Yeah, whatever," Kurama said nonchalantly as he gave one final wave before turning to a corner. When he was sure enough that Botan didn't see him, it was now Kurama's turn to shiver. He raised his hand to rub his upper arm in order to keep himself warm. He walked to the bus stop. Moments later, a bus had arrived and Kurama boarded it. Once seated, his thoughts went back to that day's events.

As he felt another shiver run through his body, he was once again reminded of why he hated cold weather. But thinking of the person to whom he lost his coat to, he had a sudden feeling that freezing to death wasn't such a bad idea.

'_It was worth it,'_ he silently thought as the bus drove away.

* * *

"Botan-chan! I heard from a friend that you actually went out with _the_ Shuuichi Minamino last Saturday night! She saw you guys holding hands while strolling along Greenwood Park. Why didn't you tell us that you two were dating?" a classmate asked Botan Monday morning as she walked to her locker. She carried a paper bag in her right hand which contained the freshly cleaned coat of the said member of the male species. 

"Oh no, Suki-chan, we're not dating. I was having a good time at a_ goukon_ and then he suddenly drags me out without any reason," she said, obviously not wanting to talk about what happened last Saturday. She opened her locker and shoved the paper bag inside and took some books she would need for the first period.

"If you're not dating him, then I guess that makes him your friend, right, Botan-chan?"

"Well," she started. Botan paused for a minute; she didn't actually know how to answer that question. Her friend was looking expectantly at her that it made Botan extremely uneasy. She was about to say something when the first period bell rang. Botan sighed in relief and thought, _'Saved by the bell.'_

Now in the classroom, her mind drifted off to the question her friend asked her that morning. _'What is Minamino-san to me?' _she thought to herself, _'I don't actually consider him as a friend and he's not that evil to be treated as an enemy. He's more like a verbal sparing partner rather than an enemy.'_

Before her thoughts wander off elsewhere, Botan decided to just entirely stop thinking of him and concentrate on the math problem thrown at her by their enraged teacher. Apparently, she had not been paying attention to him, which is entirely true, that the teacher, Mr. Matsui, took offense from.

Botan heaved another sigh. Obviously, thinking about Kurama led to nothing but trouble. Wait, scratch that. Anything that had any connection with Kurama surely meant trouble for her.

"So, what is the answer to the problem, Fukuyama-san?"

"Um," Botan paused, contemplating on the problem written on the board and gave a wild guess, "16 pi?"

The whole class went silent. All were staring at their teacher, waiting for his judgment. "That's," he paused, "Actually right. Good work, Fukuyama-san, you may take your seat. Next time, please pay attention." After the brief scolding, the lesson continued without her receiving any further damage.

It was already lunch time and Botan proceeded to the canteen with her_ obento_ and chopsticks on hand. She seated on an unoccupied table and settled herself in it. Botan usually had lunch together with Keiko, but she had to pass this day's lunch to be with her new boyfriend. But she didn't mind it. She is surrounded by many friends majority of the time that she had few time left to herself. It was nice being alone sometimes.

She laid down her lunch box ready to split her chopsticks when an unwanted visitor sat himself in a chair opposite Botan. "And what do you think you're doing here?" she asked in a rather cold voice.

"Nothing," he said as he lounged on the chair, "all the tables are occupied except this one."

Botan looked around and saw that many of the nearby tables were, in fact, unoccupied. She gave him a suspicious look as she split her chopsticks making sure it made a loud cracking sound, "Really now? If this is about your coat, I have it in my locker. And I cleaned it, mind you. Just get it after school." She opened her _obento_ and feasted her eyes to the array of food that her brother prepared her.

"Kuwabara," Kurama simply said, waiting for Botan to look up at him, "It seems like you have actually managed to find him a match. He seems to have taken a liking on Yukina-san, and I heard from him this morning that they'll be seeing each other in the near future."

This pronouncement perked up Botan's interest, "Really? No joke there?"

Kurama nodded in answer.

"That's great! I knew from the very beginning that they'd make a perfect match. And my instincts were right!" Botan continued ranting, waving her chopsticks, with a piece of hotdog shaped as an octopus fastened at the tip, in front of Kurama's face. Without a word, Kurama leaned forward and took the piece of food with his mouth. That immediately stopped Botan's rambling and looked at Kurama in utter disgust.

"Why'd you do that? Do you that it's not hygienic to eat using other's utensils?" she said as she wiped the tip of her chopsticks using a napkin, "You want to make me lose my appetite, don't you?"

"Guilty as charged," he said, chewing the delightful treat, "Besides, you were tempting me with all that waving you did."

Botan decided to let him go this time. After all, she had a very important question to ask him, "Ah, Minamino-san, do you, by any chance, know if Takehiro-san has a girlfriend?"

"Shin?" he asked, not amused by the direction this conversation was leading to, "I believe he doesn't have one."

"Really? That's good! I think I'll label him as one of my future targets," Botan said before munching on her lunch.

"Why? Do you like him?" Kurama asked.

"Hm?" she looked up before answering, "Yeah. Unlike other guys I met before, he actually took the initiative to come up and talk to me. Its kinda rare for guys to do that, especially since most of them only approach me to set them up with another girl."

Kurama was about to comment when Botan's phone rang. Botan answered it almost immediately, "Ah, Shimizu-san, why did you call?" there was a pause, Botan listening to what her friend was saying. Even if Kurama was a few feet away, he still heard what the other girl on the phone was saying.

"Um, can you give me Takehiro-san's number? During the _goukon_, I really liked his character. He's kinda cute, too; exactly my type, actually. But I didn't have the courage to ask for his number. I'm so sorry for bothering you," Shimizu said.

"Sure thing! I'll SMS you his number in a minute. I'm so glad you're interested in him, especially since I heard that he is currently single," Botan said cheerfully.

"Thank you so much, Botan-chan! I'll be waiting for his number."

"Well, good luck with Takehiro-san!" when Shimizu hang up, Botan quickly sent her a business card with Shin Takehiro's contact details. After that, she continued eating without saying a word.

Not able to take the silence, especially if it came from the usually lively Botan, Kurama asked, "What? That was it? I thought you liked Shin?"

"Oh, that's okay," Botan said with a kind smile, "I just thought he was different from others. But that doesn't mean he likes me back, does he? Maybe, at least with Shimizu-san, he'll be able to find his match."

Kurama heaved a sigh and leaned back to his chair, "Now I think why you don't have a boyfriend. If you ask me, if you continue being this way, you'll never find one."

"The thing is, I didn't ask you, so stop messing with me," Botan said.

"Fine, your loss, not mine."

"And you actually care because?" Botan mocked him.

"Anyway, don't you have many friends? Why don't you ask them to introduce you to their male friends who are still single?" Kurama suggested, wearing an uninterested look on his face.

Botan thought about it for a second, and then realized the genius in his plan, "For someone who irritates me most of the time, you sure come up with the best ideas."

"Well, that's why I'm the number one student in Japan. I need to live up to my name," with that, Kurama stood up and headed to some place Botan has no intention of ever knowing. With him out of sight, she immediately contacted her friends.

* * *

Saturday Morning. 

Botan actually dressed up, did her hair and actually put on a little make-up in preparation for this day's grand event. She was about to meet three new guys who are boyfriend-candidates.

Walking towards the entrance of the shopping mall, where they agreed to meet, Botan couldn't help but feel excited and, at the same time, nervous about this meeting. Unlike her other outings, this time was actually about her self. As she neared her destination, she saw three guys who matched the description her friends gave.

When she was close enough, she introduced herself, "Good morning! I'm Botan Fukuyama. I'm –," before she could continue, the three young males smothered her with praises, which, for the first time in her life, she didn't want to hear.

"Fukuyama-san!" one of the guys exclaimed, "You're Saryashiki's Matchmaking Goddess!"

Botan cringed at the new nickname. In just a span of seconds, she was now promoted to the 'Goddess' level. And she couldn't determine if it was actually a good or a bad thing.

"We heard so much about you even if we're from Meiou. I'm Satsuki Ryonusuke, that over there is Yukihito Konoki and that's Soske Hirano."

"Thank you so much for meeting with us today, since we couldn't meet you during the weekdays," Soske said.

"So, for my type, I would like a girl who's kind and would take care of me," Yukihito piped in.

"As for me, I like the 'idol' type. Like Utada Hikaru or BoA," Soske said.

"I like intellectual girls, but they have to be beautiful, too," it was now Satsuki's turn to give his input.

"So please introduce us to our perfect girl!" they chorused, leaving Botan dazed. She had a feeling that things didn't go the way they were supposed to. She ended up being the matchmaker again.

At present, Botan was walking along the snowy sidewalk of the city. She couldn't help but be disappointed by the way things had unraveled earlier. Naturally, she had gained more friends during that meeting, but that didn't increase her chances of having a boyfriend.

Slowly, she was starting to lose her self-confidence. She didn't know why none of her guy friends took notice of her. It seems that they had never seen her as a girl, only the matchmaker. She stopped in front of the large glass window of a bookstore to inspect herself. She noted her light blue locks that seemed to look lighter especially with the falling snow. She took notice of her wide purple eyes, thinking if it annoyed guys. She took in her fair complexion and pink pliant lips, wondering if they were not interesting enough for guys to take notice.

_'Is there something wrong with me? Maybe its because I'm too average for most of the guy's taste?' _she thought to herself.

Botan was too caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the person on the other side of the window also taking in her features. When she finally came to, her eyes trailed upward only to be captured by bottle green eyes that belonged to Kurama, who simply gave her a smirk when she turned red from embarrassment.

Kurama went out of the store and met Botan, who was recovering from the scene earlier. "What are you doing here?" he asked, "Another_ goukon_, I suppose?"

"Not really," she sighed, "I followed your advice and asked friends to introduce me to their single male friends."

"Did you get yourself a boyfriend, then?"

Botan faced him with teary eyes, "No, I got friends instead. They started asking me to set them up with some other girl before I even finished with my introduction."

Kurama just chuckled. Botan didn't take offense, by now, she was used to him laughing at every blunder she made.

"You're probably right, Minamino-san. I probably won't get a boyfriend at this rate."

Kurama gave her a look and said, "Who are you and what did you do to the real Fukuyama? Hey, don't be that way. You know you're better than that. And by the way, it's Kurama, not Minamino-san. Minamino-san is my long dead father."

Botan had to smile at his lame attempt to cheer her up. He even told her to call him 'Kurama', the name that only his friends had the privilege of calling him. Before she could change her mind, she decided to do something that she wouldn't do on her normal days, "Hey, since you like giving me advice and stuff, you might as well give me your phone number."

Kurama gave her a confused look, "My number?"

He was about to say something else when Botan gave him a don't-ask-or-else-you-die look, and eventually he gave in, "Fine." The blue haired girl grabbed her phone from her bag and punched in a few buttons to add a new contact when the screen flashed 'Memory Full'.

"You're too prominent. That phone's capacity is about one thousand at the least. You have too many friends; I think I'm actually starting to get scared of messing with you."

"That didn't work," she said as she put her phone back in the bag, "Just tell me your phone number. I can remember those kinds of information just by listening to it."

"You really are weird, Botan," Kurama said, not knowing if the girl even noticed the sudden change in the way he called her, "Anyway, my number is 09019238475."

"Okay, got it!"

"By the way," Kurama suddenly turned serious, "Why do you like to pair people up? You must find it really exhausting."

"I just like seeing people around me happy. I like making people happy by helping them find love," she simply said, giving him a wistful smile, "As long as my matchmaking skills can be of help, I will do my best and continue doing this work. I don't find it exhausting at all. Just hearing them say 'Thank You' gives me a strong sense of fulfillment."

"But don't you get lonely knowing that your own love life suffers because of this?"

"At times, yes. But if my sacrifice meant making others happy, I can live with that kind of sadness."

"You really are a _Miu Pao_," Kurama commented, effectively ruining the mood.

"Why you –," she was about to attack him verbally when he suddenly spoke.

"What's my phone number?"

"09019238475!" Botan exclaimed, without even missing a beat.

"Great talent you have there," Kurama joked around, laughing at her weird gifts, before turning back to his serious mode, "Now I know why you have many friends."

Botan was utterly shocked by his statement. She was even expecting a witty come-back, but there was none.

"W-what do you mean by that?"

"I'll just leave you to figure that out," Kurama said as he started to walk away from Botan, "See you around."

After minutes of standing there, Botan stayed there contemplating on what had just happened, _'Did I actually have a _moment_ with _the_ Shuuichi Minamino also known as Kurama?!'_ She shook her head, willing to shove any thoughts that had something to do with Kurama. After all, thinking of that redhead fox could only lead to trouble.

Whether or not something _did_ happen, she wanted to leave it at that.

* * *

**A/N:**Well? What do you think? I wanted to finish this chapter earlier, but I had been very busy during the last few days. 

The next chapter (and probably the last) will be released by next week, so please review so that I know what to improve on this story by then. Who knows, I might even update earlier if you'd bribe me with reviews, hehehe.

Some notes on the chapter:

I know that Hiei and Yukina are siblings. I'll try to incorporate the idea in the next chapter, but I'm not so sure if I have the time to add that. Let's just see what happens.

As for Kurama's phone number in the story, it was something I made up. If you have the same number as written here, I apologize in advance. The similarity is unintended.

For those who reviewed the first chapter, **ToonyTwilight**, **heartluv**, **anime/videogame freak**, **Sonzai Taz**, **Smexy Kitten**, **kuramalover21**, **sweetcanines**, **jdcocoagirl**, and **Doctor Kiba**, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Without your words of encouragement, I probably won't have the inspiration to make this chapter.

My gratitude also goes out to those who took their time to read my story. Hope that you review this one!

**Happy Holidays to All! **


	3. Match Number 3

**Author's Note:** Um, so I lied. I promised to update this story earlier, but things didn't go as planned. For that, I am so sorry. I got sidetracked, especially during the holidays. There were parties here and there, food was overflowing, Christmas and New Year Specials on the TV… Good times, good times.

But here I am again with the last chapter of this story. Consider this as my post New Year offering.

Again, this was loosely based from the one-shot manga **Ai No Tame Ni** by **Kawahara Kazune.**

Also, UVERworld, one great Japanese rock band, is mentioned here.**  
**

**Yu Yu Hakusho** is not mine as well.

* * *

**Match Number 3!**

Kurama took another bite from his sandwich, sporting an uninterested look. He was lounging at one of the bleachers on a secluded part of the school's football field, eating his lunch. It was a Monday. A very boring Monday. Unfortunately, none of his friends was even present to join him in his wallowing. Heck, he even missed Kuwabara's whimpering and sudden outbursts. Now that he had a girlfriend, the carrot-top traveled all the way to Yukina's school during lunch just to eat together. Since she studies at an all-girls school, and boys were not allowed inside the campus, both agreed to meet at some food shop near her school.

And don't even let him get started with Yusuke. Kurama barely saw his shadow nowadays. He can't even remember the last time they hang out. Like Kuwabara, he seems to be spending most of his time with his girlfriend. Even the local gangsters were starting to miss having their buts kicked by the young delinquent.

Now, Hiei was a different story. As it turns out, he was Yukina's brother, his twin even. Them having the same family name, same crimson eyes, and even the same height was a dead give away. But Kuwabara was too smitten, not to mention too slow, to even notice these. And this is where things got a little nasty.

Everyday, Hiei does different kinds of thins just to prevent Kuwabara from meeting Yukina – sabotage his bike, locked him inside the janitor's closet, super-glued his shoes on the floor, virtually anything you can think of just to 'save his sister from the moron'. But Kuwabara can be really persistent, unfortunately, so is Hiei. If Kuwabara manages to meet up with Yukina unscathed, Hiei follows them secretly, ready to pounce on the carrot-top if he even thought of doing something inappropriate.

If you think about it, it seems that all of his friends, those who he can tolerate that is, were busy with girls in one way or another. Speaking of girls, there was this one girl he found himself spending most of his free time with. In the mornings before class starts, since they were in different classes, he visited her in her classroom at times to hear her rant about her latest match-ups. At lunch time, he found himself sitting opposite her at the lunch table casually talking to her, more like annoying her about the non-existence of romance in her life, and stealthily eat some of her food in the process. Even at weekends whenever he went out for an errand or something, fate somehow brought them together. It seems like the little _Miu Pao_ had been his unexpected companion these past few weeks.

However, this day proves to be nothing but normal. It seems that, like his friends, Botan decided to occupy herself with something Kami-sama knows what. And that is why he sat there alone, eating his lunch. He sullenly bit off another piece from his sandwich and thought, _'Had Botan finally grew tired of me?' _ He pondered on the thought for a minute and then concluded, _'Nah. Knowing her, she's probably caught up in her matchmaking activities.'_ With that, he grabbed his juice box and took a sip on his orange juice.

Suddenly, a shadow passed by and then a voice was heard, "You got some of that left?" It was Hiei, pointing at sandwich. He sat himself beside Kurama, who in turn tossed him another bag of sandwich, "Good to see you, too, Hiei." He short teen simply shrugged and opened the plastic.

"So, what kind of torture did you put Kuwabara to this time?" Kurama asked, leaning idly to the wall as well.

"Burned his uniform," Hiei simply replied as if the act was the most natural thing in the world.

"Being that you're here, I suppose that you have successfully foiled Kuwabara's plan meeting up with Yukina-san."

"Hn. The idiot had an extra set of uniform in his locker," he grunted as he begrudgingly bit off from the sandwich.

"Aren't you supposed to carry out Plan B, also known as stalking the prey?"

"The teacher caught me with the 'evidence'. I had to stay to make some stupid reflection paper, why not to burn random things at school. Kuwabaka had a 20-minute headstart," Hiei replied surly.

"But that never stopped you before," Kurama said in a matter-of-factly manner.

The short spitfire let out an audible 'Hn' before giving Kurama a death glare, which, in human language, meant lay-off or you'll suffer torment a thousand times more painful than death. None of the two young men spoke for a while, both of them loosened up at the seemingly comfortable silence.

"I should kill you, y'know," Hiei said, breaking the silence, "It was you who gave him that stupid idea of seeking the help of the Matchmaking Queen."

"I no longer could stand Kuwabara's constant badgering, like you, I very much value my peace and quiet moments. Besides, how should I know that your sister would be part of that _goukon_?"

"Hn, fine. Maybe I'll just go release all my frustration on that overly bubbly matchmaker," Hiei muttered as he finished his food.

Kurama glanced at him, giving a cryptic smile, and simply said, "I don't think that would be such a good idea."

Hiei, who knew the kitsune all too well, was smart enough to heed the redhead's words. It was only once in a while that he got to see that mysterious smile of his which meant only one thing – Kurama was dead serious. Hiei knew better than to ask him about his sudden protectiveness over their blue haired schoolmate. Besides, he heard from the latest gossips, not that he intentionally listen to those kinds of stuff, that Kurama had been spending some time together with her, so Hiei had a slight idea to this new found attitude of his friend towards Botan. But he wasn't sure if Kurama was even aware of his own feelings.

"Fine, I'll just go kill Kuwabara, permanently," Hiei mocked, yet the idea seemed to be very pleasing.

"You do that," Kurama said, reverting back to his old self.

Hiei was about to say something when someone interrupted him, "Minamino-senpai! Thank Kami, I found you at last," a lower classman, who Kurama recognized as a member of the student council approached them, breathlessly.

"Ishitani-kun, why don't you catch your breath first," Kurama said, sympathetically.

The said lower classman heeded his senpai's advice before proceeding to his news, "Nobuya-sensei is looking for you, something about the upcoming conference."

"I see," Kurama stood up, picked his trash and tossed it in the nearest rubbish bin, "Why don't you go ahead and tell him I'll be on my way." With one final nod, Ishitani-kun left, leaving the two friends behind.

"Well, duty calls," Kurama said to Hiei who was still lounging at the bleachers, "See you later."

"Hn," Hiei grumbled and Kurama left.

* * *

Botan heaved a sigh as she stared helplessly at the piece of paper in front of her. Her mind registered blank as her eyes went through the words in it. How was she supposed to answer that freaking History Test reviewer when her stomach was grumbling and all her internal organs protesting? She let out another defeated sigh and thought, _'This is just hopeless.'_

Her History teacher, Kawahara-sensei, gave her a look before saying, "The sooner you finish that, the sooner you get to eat." She was a nice and kind teacher, one of Botan's favorites, in fact. But when it comes to bringing her students' grades up, she can become really vicious. Botan was about to reply, but her grumbling stomach beat her to it.

"Tell you what, I'll go buy you some sweet buns to fill that empty stomach of yours. Just be sure you'll finish answering that test before the next period starts," Kawahara-sensei offered and Botan could only agree.

"Arigatou, Kawahara-sensei! I promise I'll finish this!" Botan said. With that the teacher left the faculty room, and in turn, Botan concentrated on the job at hand. She studied the questions and picked out the ones she knew the answer to. She was about to answer her fourth question when she heard the hinges of the faculty room door, which was close to Kawahara-sensei's table, squeak as someone entered the room. Hoping that it was her teacher, she looked up only to come eye to eye with one familiar redhead. Both stared at each other for a moment, but to Botan, she felt so embarrassed knowing that Kurama had caught her, once again, in one of her vulnerable moments.

No longer able to contain her self, Botan muttered, "My test scores weren't high enough, so the teacher gave me some mock exam to prepare me for the next quiz. And why are my scores low? It's because I suck at History, big time! Happy now, Mr. All High and Mighty?"

"Why the hostility? I wasn't even asking," Kurama in a nonchalant manner, irritating Botan in the process. Kurama walked behind her and peeked at her test paper as he leaned over her shoulder. "These questions seem easy," he said, studying the questions.

"It's easy for you because you're the smartest kid in school," Botan said sarcastically. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but normal people like me aren't gifted with such intellectual prowess like yours. Go discuss the theory of relativity with Einstein for all I care! At least I'm not a --," Botan was about to go on with her ranting when Kurama spoke suddenly.

"What's my number?"

"09019238475!" Botan automatically said, feeling she had been tricked by the sly fox afterward.

Kurama, who had been looking at his watch, said with a little chuckle, "Wow, and that took only half a millisecond! Congratulations, Botan, you broke your own record!" The blue-haired girl simply gave a resounding 'Hmph' before turning her gaze back to the almost forgotten test paper.

"Seriously, Botan, with that super-humanoid memory of yours, you should find History very easy because it requires memorizing names, date, places and the like," Kurama said casually, as if he had no personal interest in the matter.

Botan pondered on his words for a moment. She was about to say something when an elderly member of the faculty butted in their conversation, "Ah, Minamino-kun, I'm glad you're finally here."

"I rushed back as soon as I heard you were looking for me, Nobuya-sensei" Kurama said politely to the student council adviser, "I heard from Ishitani-kun that you had something to discuss about some matter."

"Ah, yes," the teacher said, "The principal has informed me that there will be a teacher's conference next week which will be held here in our school where in all teachers in the district will participate. This will be held on the 24th, but our gymnasium, where the conference will be held, is not yet ready. Since you are the student council president, I need you to coordinate with the other class representatives for all year levels and inform them that on the 23rd, all students are to help setting up the gymnasium for the conference, 4pm onwards."

Botan, who had no intention of eavesdropping on the conversation, became alarmed when he heard the news. "On the 23rd you say?" Botan suddenly stood up, successfully interrupting what Kurama was about to say, "But that's the same date as the UVERworld concert! With us working, the students won't be able to enjoy the concert with them being too tired cleaning up the whole gymnasium! Everyone was looking forward attending it with their significant ones, some even bought expensive tickets in advance! You can't do this, sensei!"

"I'm sorry, young lady, but I most certainly can't do anything about it. The date is already set and we cannot cancel the conference since invitations were already given out," the elderly teacher said in his mellow voice, not even fazed by Botan's sudden outburst.

Botan thought for a moment for a contingency plan. Finally, she had an idea, "If I take care of the cleaning and the set-up, would you let the rest of the student body off the hook?"

"You're going to do all the set-up? By yourself?" the teacher was obviously surprised by the young student's offer, "I don't think you would be able to finish by the time of the conference."

"It is possible, sir. I'll start by 7am, or earlier if it is required, and I'm sure I'll be able to do it," Botan said with a determined look in her eyes.

The teacher thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of her suggested plan of action. He knew that it was a risky move, but that look she gave was telling him otherwise. He sighed before submitting to her request, "Alright, Fukuyama-san, you have my consent. I'll give your teachers notices to excuse you for the day. Good luck." After giving a few words to Kurama, Nobuya-sensei went back to his own desk and occupied himself with pending paper-work.

"That was pretty stupid," Kurama eyed Botan, who was now sinking in her chair, seriously. Botan mentally prepared herself for another round of verbal lashing from the red-haired young man only to be caught off-guard once again by his next words, "Stupid, indeed. But also, a very noble thing to do." Before Botan could even react, Kurama walked over to the door and left the room.

Too caught up in her own thoughts, Botan didn't even notice Kawahara-sensei enter with two sweet buns in her hand. She walked over Botan and peeked at her test paper. Her eyes widened in fury when she saw that only three out of thirty-five questions were answered, "Botan!" the said girl jumped in her seat when she heard her teacher shout her name, "didn't I tell you to finish that test? There's only 10 minutes left before lunch period ends! I change my mind; you won't get any food until you finish that!"

Botan simply groaned as her stomach grumbled.

* * *

**23****rd**** of December – Cleaning Day**

Botan arrived at school exactly 7 am that day dressed in a shirt two sizes bigger than the usual and a pair sporty black sweat pants. There weren't much students present during that time since classes didn't start until 8 am. Unlike normal days when she brought a cutesy bag, she carried a sporty type backpack which carried spare clothes and a towel.

She went straight to the humongous gymnasium, with the size of three basketball courts put together, and settled her things inside the lockers found at the back. Going back to the main area of the gym, she saw the numerous stacks of chairs and round tables that she was to set up, the huge boxes that contained materials she would need for the decorations, and of course, the cleaning tools.

Botan rolled up her sleeves and put on a midnight blue bandana on her head before shouting out loud, "Yosh! Let's start the cleaning!" She grabbed a red bucket on the side and went outside to fill it with water. It took her a while to return, it took all her strength to carry the huge bucket filled with water back to the gym. As she settled it down on the floor and massaged her arms to relieve the soreness. _'I didn't think it would be this hard. And to think this is just the beginning,' _Botan thought to herself as sweat rolled down her face even with the cold weather, _'But I promised sensei to do this. I can't give up now, I refuse to let him and my friends down. You can do this, Botan!'_

With a newfound resolve, she picked up the mop and the cleaning solution beside it. She put some solution on the water and mixed it using the mop. With it prepared, she began mopping the floor. After an hour, Botan found she was only able to clean up a small portion of the gym._'At this pace, I won't be able to cover much ground by lunch time,'_Botan thought worriedly, _'I need a new strategy.'_ Remembering how the basketball team members cleaned their own gym, Botan got an idea.

She angled the mop in front of her and prepared to push it when she ran across the gym. At first, Botan ran at a slow pace and accelerated as she went farther. _'This isn't so bad, kinda fun, too,' _Botan thought to herself. As her speed increased, the risk of slipping increased as well. With her speed together with the slippery wet floor, Botan's right foot slid below her and brought down her whole body in the process. The result, Botan crashed flat on the floor on her stomach.

"Ow, my stomach," Botan groaned as she sat on the floor clutching the damaged part of her anatomy. _'And not to mention my breasts, ow, really hurts,' _she thought as she put an arm across her chest.

"My, my, you really are clumsy, Botan," said a familiar teasing voice. Botan was so sure that this person was, as always, laughing at her demise. "You're one hopeless case," he continued.

Botan looked up with a glare. But it was immediately wiped off her face when she saw Kurama, with a casual smile on his face, holding out a hand to her. Confused, Botan simply took his hand and he helped her up. As soon as she was in an upright position, she realized that Kurama was donning a similar outfit, a simple shirt and a pair jogging pants. His hair was set unusually in a ponytail.

"W-what are you –," before Botan could even finish her sentence, Kurama interjected, "Actually, I really don't know. But you really looked pitiful the other day when you –."

"What did you say, you stu –," Botan shouted, effectively cutting Kurama's speech. But he, too, decided to cut her lecture, "Okay, now that's settled, let's start moving if we want to finish early." He walked over to the cleaning materials and picked out another mop. Kurama dabbed it in the bucket with cleaning solution and water and started wiping the floor with the mop. However, Botan still stood there, quite surprised by Kurama's presence.

"What are you still doing there? Me helping you doesn't mean I'll do everything," Kurama exclaimed. "Yeah, sorry, just resting a bit. You don't need to scold me!" Botan shouted back as she picked the fallen mop on the floor.

Botan went on cleaning another spot, careful this time about slipping again. It would be really embarrassing if she fell a second time. She eyed Kurama carefully and saw how hard he worked on his spot. She saw him wipe off the sweat trickling down his face once in a while and thought, _'He didn't have to do this, and he could be sitting inside the comfort of his own classroom. But he still chose to do this grueling hard labor even if there won't be any rewards to sow.' _Botan didn't know why, but she felt something warm grow inside her chest. She decided to ignore it and continued doing work.

By lunch time, the duo had finished mopping the floor and started setting up the tables and the chairs. They ate lunch together, both sharing their food. Knowing that Botan had a lot of physical work to do that day, her brother prepared her a big lunch. The same goes with Kurama, surely Shiori won't allow her son starve to death. They had a light conversation, too, about Botan's matchmaking, Kurama's work as student council president, academics, family and hobbies just to name a few. Both didn't mention it, but they were glad for it since they got to know each other better.

After lunch, they agreed to divide the work. Kurama would be in-charge of setting up the chairs and tables, since this is a more strenuous activity, which involves brawn and muscles. After all, Kurama was much of a gentleman to let the girl carry heavy things. Botan, on the other hand was assigned with the decorations, since it required patience, precision and artistic sense that most men don't have. They also agreed that whoever finished first will help the other finish his or her task.

"Finally, it's finished!" Botan beamed, openly admiring the fruits of their labor. It was already 7 o'clock in the evening and it was already dark outside. But this fact didn't seem to dampen her mood. In fact, she was pretty happy that they didn't have to stay late that night. Kurama lay on the stage, feeling the waves of exhaustion overrun his senses, and commented, "I think I'll stay away from physical labor for a week. No, make that a month." Botan eyed Kurama. It's only normal for him to be that tired since he had to take care of a more arduous task.

"Um, you wait here, I'll get us something to drink," Botan offered as she jogged out of the gym.

"Don't worry, at this state, I doubt I'll be even able to stand up," Kurama said.

Botan rushed to the nearest vending machine she could find and searched her pockets for some spare change. Just then she realized something,_'Stupid Botan! You forgot to ask him what he wanted to drink.' _Botan counted her money and saw it was enough to buy one of every kind of drink in the machine, _'Oh well, I'll just buy everything.'_

When Botan came back, she saw Kurama already sitting on the stage, _'Must mean he already recovered his strength.' _

"Hey," Kurama greeted Botan.

"Here, have something to drink. Sort of like a thank you present or something, don't worry, it's my treat," Botan said cheerfully as she balanced eight cans in her arms.

Kurama helped her set down the cold drinks and asked, "Are your hands okay? You're really being careless again, holding many cans can cause blisters."

"Oh, it's okay! Like I said before, I'm cold resistant," Botan said as she placed her reddening arms behind her in an attempt to hide it from Kurama's scrutiny. "Okay then," Kurama said as he looked at the selection of drink offered to him and finally picked the can of lemon tea. Botan, who sat beside him, picked jasmine tea.

"Ah, that was refreshing," Kurama said as he finished his first drink, "I think I'll have another one."

Botan smiled knowing that Kurama like his drink. Then, a thought suddenly hit her, hard, _'What is happening to me? A-am I actually trying to please him?' _She was surprised by this and thought, _'Nah, must be the exhaustion, really makes me crazy.'_ With that resolve, she dismissed the thought and continued with her drink.

It was already seven-thirty in the evening when they left the school grounds. Botan was talking about her past Christmases when someone interrupted her, "Fukuyama! Is that really you? I'm so glad I ran into you! You were absent in class so I wasn't able to talk to you this morning."

"Yamada-kun! What are you still doing here?" Botan asked when she recognized her classmate, "Don't you have a concert to attend to? I bet Kia-chan is worried sick waiting for you at the concert."

"Ah, that's the thing I wanted to talk to you about. You see, Kia-san and I broke up yesterday. She had to go to a family thing tonight, and I told her to ditch it for the concert. But she refused to, so I called the whole thing off."

By now, Botan was stunned by the horrible news, and Kurama couldn't help but worry seeing that look on her face.

"Can you set me up with another girl? You already know what my type is so –," before he could even finish, Botan let out a resounding "No."

"Why not? Its not that hard, you have a lot of friends anyway."

"Find someone on your own," Botan said coldly, already turning her back on Yamada.

"But that would be too much work for my part. Besides, it's another chance for you to test your matchmaking skills," Yamada said as if everything was alright.

Botan faced Yamada once again, doing her best to contain her shaking, "That girl you just broke up with is my friend, too! You expect me to find you another girl a day after breaking her heart? That's like rubbing salt to her wound!" Botan shouted, not even caring if passers-by looked at her weirdly, "I refuse to do it!"

Yamada, who was obviously taken aback by Botan's refusal, shot back, "Then if you won't introduce me to a new girl, then I don't see a reason why I even need _boring_ friends like you! 'Matchmaking Queen' my ass! Don't act all haughty and proud just because people give you that title! Remove that title and all's left is a dull and insipid person!" After saying his last words, Yamada stormed off, purposely bumping Botan on the shoulder as he passed.

Kurama, who had been a spectator to that verbal joust, finally spoke up as he dangerously eyed the retreating back of the other man, "Such an abrasive friend," he paused, turning his gaze back to Botan, who's head was hung low, "Is it okay letting him say those words?"

"Yeah," Botan said lifelessly, her head still bowed down, "His words wasn't entirely untrue. Sometimes, I let all the praises inflate my ego, and as he said, I act all haughty and proud."

Without warning, Kurama stood in front of her and gently placed his hand on top of her head and said, "Let me tell you secret," he paused giving her a gentle smile, "I feel that being with you is a lot of fun."

Botan, no longer able to contain her feelings inside, shed tears. She sobbed uncontrollably as Kurama pulled her close with an arm, letting her cry on his chest. Being betrayed by someone she thought of as a friend was a wounding experience. Yet, she received comfort from someone who she never expected would give her kind words. Kurama, who always teased her and laughed at her, expressed that he enjoyed her company not because of her title, but because of her own individuality.

"You idiot, I'm actually trying to be nice to you and you cry on me," Kurama said as he patted her head gently, "You really are funny."

"W-what do I-I do?" Botan's voice cracked as she cried, "I-I can't believe I a-actually introduced Kia-chan t-to a jerk!"

"Just go apologize to her, okay? Help her get over her heart ache. I'm sure she'd appreciate that."

"O-okay," Botan said as more tears streamed down her face.

'_Kurama,'_Botan thought, _'I hope he stays by my side. If he's always by my side, maybe, just maybe, I'll be happy…'_

**The End…**

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**Just kidding... Wouldn't want to conclude this story without Kurama and Botan ending up together, now would we? Read on!**

* * *

It was New Year's Eve. Usually, she spent New Year with her brother, but this year's different. He was off to his girlfriend's, and soon-to-be fiancé, house to celebrate the coming of a new year. Ryo was planning to propose to her when the clock strikes twelve. Not wanting to bother the romantic mood his brother set for that night, she decided to join her friends welcome the New Year at the Aisurutani Shrine up on the mountain. 

It is common knowledge that every year, the shrine's keeper organizes a huge New Year celebration inviting vendors to set up their stalls, and there would also be a countdown followed by a colossal fire works display. It was the talk of the town and everyone was looking forward to celebrate the New Year at the shrine.

Now walking on the steps of the shrine, Botan chattered casually with friends about how they spent the holidays. Like other girls, she wore a traditional kimono. She wore a midnight blue hued kimono with a pink and white sakura petals pattern set artistically and a red obi. Her hair was set in a tight bun with her signature curly side locks framing her pretty face.

Walking beside her was Kia-chan, the girl that awful Yamada-san dumped. She was doing fine now with Botan and her other friends' help. At first, she had been inconsolable. But, Botan got through with her, and she let her see that she was not to blame for the break-up. Botan even promised to help her find a better guy if she wanted to. Somehow, Botan owed this to one red haired young lad who lent her his strength in her time of despair.

She felt closer to him after that incident with Yamada-san. That night, Kurama, despite protests from Botan, insisted on taking her home. He argued that it wasn't safe for her walking down the streets alone especially since she looked so fragile that time. Fortunately, her brother was still at the University, teaching a night class, when she got home or else he would have gone ballistic if he saw her puffy red eyes.

That was the last time she saw Kurama since the school was closed for the holidays. Even if she had his number, she never had the courage to send him a message. Besides, that would seem so un-Botan and Kurama might think weird of her. Why would she even want to send him a message? What would she say? By that time, she had already dropped the idea.

"Hey, Botan-chan! Let's go over there," Kia dragged her towards the direction of some stall. It was an hour before midnight and Botan noticed that most people are already finding a good spot where they can watch the fireworks.

"Botan-chan!" her ears perked up as she heard her name being called, "It's so nice to see you here!"

"Kuwabara-kun!" Botan excalaimed, "I haven't seen you for a long time. How are you? Who are you with?"

"I'm doing great, thanks to you! I'm here with my girlfriend," Kuwabara said as a faint blush spread on his cheeks, "I just went here to buy her some drink."

"Yukina-chan's here too? I haven't talked to her for a while. Please tell her I said 'hi' and I'll call her sometime in the future," Botan said and paused for a second, pondering on something, but continued anyway, "Oh, I don't want to keep you from your errand. I'll see you at school!"

"Okay! It was nice bumping into you," with that, Kuwabara's tall figure melted into the crowd. She had meant to ask him about Kurama, if he was here too, but changed her mind at the last minute. Besides, Kurama, being the perfect son he is, would surely spend the New Year with his family.

Botan and Kia strolled down the pathway while eyeing each stalls they passed by. However, their fun was disrupted when someone called to her again, "Botan-chan! I'm glad to bump into you." It was Marika, accompanied by four other girls, who spoke, "You see, a lot of my _kouhai_ don't have boyfriends yet. Can I trust your expertise to help them meet guys?"

The blue haired girl almost immediately accepted the new job, her hand itching for a pen and that little green notebook of hers. But now that those two were inaccessible, she had to rely on her powerful memory this time, "Sure, no problem. What are their preferences for a boyfriend?"

"Ah, they were really specific," Marika said, "They said they fancy Shuuichi Minamino, the Student Council President. I saw you hang out with him a lot, so I guess it would be easy for you to ask him, right?"

"Shuuiichi Minamino?"

"Yeah, the girls really have the hots for him since the first time they laid eyes on him. In all honesty, if I weren't in a relationship right now, I'd go for him as well," Marika paused, cutting her speech before it veered into something else, "So, you'll set them up with Minamino-kun, okay? And if it's possible, persuade Hiei Jaganshi as well. They say he's kinda cute, too, but personally, I think he's kinda sca –," before she could even finish Botan interrupted.

"No!" Botan said, her voice becoming soft as she continued, "I can't do that."

"Botan-chan?" Kia, both confused and worried about her sudden outburst, asked.

"I-I refuse to introduce Kurama to anyone. It's only him that I won't introduce to anyone." The rest of the girls gave Botan a curious look, obviously interested in what her next words would be.

"I won't do it, because," the girls gave Botan an encouraging look that prompted her to go on, "I like," by now, the girls' eyes shot upward and looked shocked at what they saw, "Kurama!"

"Botan-chan! Behind you," wide-eyed and nervous, it was Marika who broke the news to Botan.

As if in slow motion, Botan glanced up to her left only for her eyes to bulge out of its sockets as she was welcomed with the sight of Kurama wearing an unreadable expression on his face, "Have I been… Confessed to?"

After what seemed like years to Botan, she just stood there, staring at Kurama, hoping it was only a dream. But reality finally sunk in and all Botan could do was shout in a mortified tone, "No way!" With that, even with her snug kimono, Botan bolted to who knows where. The rest of the girls chased Botan, but with the numerous people promenading about, they eventually lost her.

Botan ran blindly about, hearing pained complaints from random people she bumped into in the process. She didn't even mind apologizing. All she wanted to do was disappear from the face of this planet, never to be seen again. After what seemed like hours of running, she felt her legs give out and before she knew it, Botan was already kneeling on the ground, teary eyed. If she had paid attention to her surroundings, Botan would have noticed she had stumbled upon a wide meadow absent of any signs of people.

Botan placed her left hand on the tree trunk on her left for support. She shifted so she was on a sitting position, her back flat on the huge trunk, as she hugged her legs to her chest. Even if she didn't want to, her mind kept on showing her the events earlier, especially the look on Kurama's face when she unknowingly told him how she felt. "Gah, I must have sounded so stupid to him!" Botan cried to no one in particular, "I wouldn't be surprised if he's laughing at me right now."

Silence.

"I really am pathetic," Botan said, her head now resting on her knees.

'_Besides,'_she thought painfully, _'Even if I told him what I felt, I doubt it would really matter to him. After all, a lowly girl like me wouldn't even live up to his high standards.'_

"So this is where you stormed off to," a calm familiar voice penetrated Botan's ears, "I didn't expect you'd be able go this far."

Botan looked up, wide periwinkle eyes shocked to see Kurama's lean figure dressed in a traditional gi and hakama walking towards her. Almost immediately, Botan stood up forced her shaking legs move, ready to run as soon as possible. But a firm grip on her wrist prevented her from doing so.

"You're friends are worried sick looking for you. They really are good friends," Kurama said, Botan's wrist still clasped in his right hand.

"It really doesn't matter right now," Botan paused as she tried to free herself from his hold without looking at him directly, "If they asked you to look for me, then I'll be the one to apologize for them even bothering you. So, let me go so you can head back to your friends or family."

"Actually, I came here on my own will," Kurama paused, as he pulled Botan closer, urging her to meet his eyes, "I was just thinking of talking to you myself."

Botan stiffened, "You don't have to say anything, Kurama, I get it."

"Just listen to what I have to say," Kurama said calmly as both of his hands went up to her shoulders to make Botan face his way. But Botan was really stubborn and decided to just lower her head and stare at her feet.

"You don't have to do this, Kurama," Botan's voice was starting to rise, "I already know what you're gonna say. You have high standards, right?"

"Just listen," Kurama insisted but kept his voice composed.

"Stop it already, Kurama! I'm just being my old idiotic self a while back; I'm a stupid _miu pao_ anyways!" Botan shouted to block out any words from Kurama. But as soon as he heard Botan mentioned her being a _miu pao_, Kurama couldn't help himself but let out a small laughter.

At an impulse, Botan's head shot up and banged her fist to his chest, "You see? You're laughing again!"

"I love you," Kurama said as he grasped her wrists with both hands, taking advantage of the moment Botan looked up at him.

"10," in the background, the people's collective shouts were heard as they started counting down the last seconds of the current year.

"Did you hear me? I love you."

"9."

"Y-you're lying."

"8."

"Didn't you tell me you have h-high standards?"

"7."

"I did."

"6."

"That's because I don't like any girls other than you."

"5."

"But you always laugh at me."

"4."

Kurama laughed in response.

"3."

"See, you're doing it again!"

"2."

"That's because, I think you're really cute."

"1."

Without even waiting for Botan's witty reply, not that she had anything to say with that, Kurama leaned forward to capture her lips for a sweet and gentle kiss.

"0. Happy New Year!"

At first, Botan was too stunned to even react, but when his words started to sink in and the magnitude of her own feelings overflowed deep inside her, she slowly closed her eyes and started to respond. Kurama let go of her wrists and crept his hands down to the small of back to pull her closer. Now, with her hands free, Botan slid her small hands on his chest and rose to his neck. Both were oblivious to the magnificent show of fireworks above them, making their kiss under the Sakura Tree even more picturesque.

It was Botan who first pulled away from the kiss when she suddenly remembered that breathing was a necessity. Her cheeks were tinted pink as this was her first kiss. Kurama, on the other hand, had to chuckle at the sight Botan presented to him. But this time, she no longer got irritated for she now knew the reason behind those small bouts of laughter.

"So does that mean you won't call me _miu pao _anymore?" Botan looked up, love and happiness mirrored in her eyes.

"No," Kurama said casually, " that's because you are **my**_ miu pao_." Kurama looked back with the same intensity, even greater, of love reflected in those bottle green eyes. In response, she hugged Kurama tightly, as he did the same, kissing the top of her head softly.

Miu Pao. A word Botan abhorred from the very beginning. Yet, it was also a word close to her heart as she learned to love it, especially when hearing it from Kurama's mouth.

…_**owari…**_

_**(the real end, this time)**_

* * *

**A/N:** So, how do you like it? Pretty long, but it was fun for me to write. Not just because I finally finished one of my multi-chaptered fictions, but also weird things happened when I wrote this. I don't know why, but while I was writing this, especially the last part, critters kept appearing in my room (a rat, a cockroach, a HUGE spider and a lizard). I was cursing every time my eye caught some movement, it was really freaky. But, I kinda got used to them, my new best friends actually… 

Anyway, before I go tell you my life story, if you want to read the manga where this was based from (so you can compare this fiction to that and tell me what you think), you can download it from mangatraders . com (Be warned, the file here is in .rar, so you have to use WinRAR to extract the file. It is also about 55MB in size since it has 3 one-shots in it). However, if you want the .zip file, PM me and I'll send you the savefile link where I placed a .zip file, which is about 20MB (This only contains the First Story where I based this fic).

(Ooh, there goes the creepy cockroach again… scampering off across my room…)

Btw,_** Kouhai **_is a Japanese term which means lower-classman.

My heartfelt appreciation goes out to who took the time to read this story especially those who reviewed the last chapter, namely**ToonyTwilight**, **Ryuuie Mizishi**, **heartluv**, **majo18**,** midnight 1987**, **Smexy Kitten**, **MiaHime**,** xxBroken21xx**, **sweetcanines**,** anime/videogame freak**, **Masgb**,** stubbornheroine**,** Thornspike**, and **Sonzai Taz**.

Special shout out goes to **jdcocoagirl **and **Botan and Kurama lover**! Thank you so much for showing a great deal of concern for this story!

(Now the cockroach is on the wall…)

**Please do not forget to drop by a review for this chapter!** Who knows? I might make a sequel for this one with just the right motivation.

Thank you for all the good memories!

And that's a wrap!


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